Hearts and minds: Public archaeology and the Queensland school curriculum

Stephen Nichols, Jonathan Prangnell and Michael Haslam

Abstract archaeology and education have been considered at length The school education system is an important public by a number of authors (e.g. Barlow 1990; Davis 2000; sphere where popular notions of archaeology and the Hamilakis 2004; MacKenzie and Stone 1990; Nzewunwa archaeological past are produced and reproduced. Within 1990). As Davis (2000:194) points out, education is ‘a the framework of an interpretive public archaeology, primary mode for transmitting society’s knowledge, values schools represent a significant social context in which and beliefs’. Consequently, the education system is a key archaeologists might seek meaningful engagement with the social site at which public constructions of archaeology and wider community. Analysis of the Queensland Education the archaeological past are produced and reproduced. Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) syllabus Jeppson and Brauer (2003:83) urge archaeologists to reveals that there are many opportunities for the inclusion of embrace this ‘realm of cultural production and reproduction Australian archaeology examples in the curricula of both as a way to open up a greater space for archaeology’s primary and secondary schools. In this paper we develop a participation in public debate’. In this view, the role of public outreach strategy for engaging the Queensland archaeology in educational curricula is an important public school curriculum and report on two case studies from archaeological issue. southeast Queensland where this strategy was implemented. Australian archaeology and the education system Introduction Recent discussions surrounding archaeological In recent times the conceptual framework of public education in Australia have mainly focussed on the archaeology has been expanded beyond traditional ‘public archaeology curriculum at university level (Beck and Balme interest’ models to include the notion of an active, 2005; Colley 2003, 2004; Hall et al. 2005; Lydon 2002). interpretive conjunction between archaeology and society Such discussions have been necessitated by a variety of (Derry 2003; Hodder 1991, 1995; Malloy 2003; McGimsey factors, including the professional and ethical requirements and Davis 2000; Merriman 2004; Shanks and McGuire of a growing heritage management sector, and the 1996). Such a conjunction explicitly recognises the inherent colonisation of our higher education environments by the political dimensions of the archaeological endeavour forces of so-called ‘academic capitalism’ (see Hamilakis and seeks to articulate the disciplinary elements of 2004). However, while the teaching and learning of academic archaeology, ‘salvage’ archaeology and heritage archaeology in Australian universities is a critical issue for management in a purposeful and applied relationship with the future of the profession, less attention has been given to the wider community. Within this expanded framework, the the place of archaeology in our primary and secondary goals of public outreach in archaeology are no longer school systems. Although statistics show that participation defined purely in terms of communicating information or in university education has steadily increased over the last raising awareness, but also as a means of bringing an 10 years, fewer than 20% of Australian adults have a ‘archaeological perspective’ to contemporary social bachelors degree (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005) and discourse and as a way for professional archaeologists, from only a small number of these will have undertaken all branches of the discipline, to engage with both local and archaeology courses during their university experience. It global processes of change. would seem that for the vast majority of Australians any In order to develop this broader interpretive approach to formal educational experience with archaeology is limited public outreach in Australia, it is necessary to identify and to their school years. strategically engage with those specific social contexts in As a state government responsibility, the school which the ethical practice of Australian archaeology can be curriculum varies between each of the states and territories made both meaningful and relevant to the daily realities of of Australia and there is currently very little data available an increasingly diverse range of non-archaeological regarding the institutionalised use of archaeology within the audiences. We propose that these contexts are to be found different educational systems. With respect to the New within four major ‘public activity areas’ of current South Wales high school curriculum, Colley (2000) archaeological practice: the operation of our compliance- suggests that archaeology is mostly associated with the based heritage management systems; our ongoing ancient history syllabus and involves overseas examples of interactions with local and descendent communities; the popular classical sites, such as Pompeii. Furthermore, these representation of archaeology in popular culture, including examples are often delivered in traditional classroom mass media, museums, tourism, literature and art; and, the settings by teachers with limited knowledge of archaeology focus here, archaeological teaching and learning in our or access to suitable archaeological resources. This is educational institutions. consistent with anecdotal evidence from Queensland. The The social and political connections between results of a recent survey in Western Australia (Balme and Wilson 2004) show that school is not considered an important source of information about archaeology for School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, recent school-leavers and that popular constructions of Australia. Email: [email protected]. archaeology among ‘educated young Australians’ are

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Hearts and minds: Public archaeology and the Queensland school curriculum characterised by a number of common misconceptions, geography, economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, including the notion that there is no archaeology to do in law, psychology and ethics’ (Queensland School Australia, and that archaeology has little contemporary Curriculum Council 2000:1). relevance to Australian society. Similarly, surveys of In overview, the practical teaching guidelines of the archaeology undergraduate students in Sydney (Colley syllabus are contained within 120 short statements, known 2005) demonstrate that although school may be a as Core Contents, concerning what students should learn at significant context in which some people develop a general each of the various educational levels from Years 1 to 10. interest in archaeology, such interest is predominantly based Teachers are required to formulate their teaching plans and on Old World and classical themes together with various to choose activities that illustrate and support these Core romantic images of archaeology as adventure and discovery Contents. In the following analysis we provide a detailed in ‘exotic’ overseas locations. Owen and Steele (2005) show examination of the Queensland SOSE syllabus to that perceptions of archaeology amongst primary school demonstrate how the Core Contents are derived and the children in Adelaide reflect a number of ‘common potential relevance of Australian archaeology as a means of erroneous beliefs’, most notably a strong association of achieving these stated learning goals. While any in-depth archaeology with dinosaurs. Taken together, these findings consideration of the situation outside Queensland is beyond suggest that Australian archaeology does not feature the scope of this analysis, a brief review of the various prominently in the mainstream learning activities of our education department websites reveals that learning areas primary and secondary schools. Nonetheless, there is strong broadly comparable to the Queensland SOSE syllabus exist anecdotal evidence that teachers are keen to incorporate within the school curriculum of all states and territories Australian archaeological experiences into their teaching (Table 1). plans when the opportunity arises and many Australian The Key Learning Area of the Queensland SOSE archaeologists actively seek to include school students in syllabus is achieved through Key Learning Area Outcomes their public outreach activities (e.g. Owen and Steele 2005). that contain Core Learning Outcomes and Discretionary One way of improving archaeological representation in Learning Outcomes (Figure 1). Core Learning outcomes are schools might be to consider how Australian archaeology those considered essential for all students to acquire during can be utilised to achieve curriculum outcomes beyond the the first 10 years of schooling. Discretionary Learning generally narrow association of archaeology with ancient Outcomes are those that go beyond what is considered history. By demonstrating the potential of Australian essential at any particular level (Queensland School archaeology to meet a wide range of existing educational Curriculum Council 2000:13). Core Learning Outcomes are goals across the school curriculum it may be possible to designed so that students gain understandings of natural and open up spaces for more formalised and ongoing cultural phenomena and their interactions in such areas as involvement of the profession in both the theoretical and group formation, material culture, past ideas, events and practical learning environments of Australian schools. With actions, identity construction and the value of heritage this aim in mind, we develop a public archaeology through the application of sociocultural and sociocritical engagement strategy with respect to the Queensland school enquiry (Queensland School Curriculum Council 2000:10- curriculum and report on two case studies where such 11). These Key Learning Area Outcomes occur in four strategy was successfully implemented. Strands: • Time, continuity and change, which emphasises Engaging the Queensland school curriculum understanding the ways ideas and behaviours remain The Queensland school curriculum offers many constant or change within human groups through time opportunities for the inclusion of Australian archaeological and their cultural heritage implications; examples and experiences. The most obvious place within • Place and space, which concentrates on the role of the curriculum is in the Queensland Education Studies of natural and cultural processes within environments and Society and Environment (SOSE) syllabus for Years 1 to 10, the significance and social patterning of places; as it is designed to build on human curiosity about the • Culture and identity, which deals with concepts of diverse ways in which people interact with each other and cultural diversity and perceptions; and the environment (the Key Learning Area) (Queensland • System, resources and power, which ‘emphasises the School Curriculum Council 2000:1). The SOSE syllabus is processes and human experiences associated with complex and is underpinned by concepts, values and citizenship, government, economy and business’ processes that derive from ‘disciplines including history, (Queensland School Curriculum Council 2000:11-12).

State/Territory Curriculum Learning Area Education Department Web Location

QLD Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) http://www.education.qld.gov.au NSW Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) http://www.det.nsw.edu.au VIC Civics and Citizenship (from 2006) http://www.education.vic.gov.au SA Society and Environment http://www.decs.sa.gov.au WA Society and Environment http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au TAS Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) http://www.education.tas.gov.au NT Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) http://www.deet.nt.gov.au ACT Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) http://www.decs.act.gov.au

Table 1 Comparable learning areas within the school curriculum of each Australian state and territory.

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Stephen Nichols, Jonathan Prangnell and Michael Haslam

Each of these four Key Learning Area Outcome Strands The syllabus also identifies that the four Key Values of is taught across eight Key Learning Area Outcome Levels. democratic process, social justice, ecological and economic These levels comprise a Foundation Level, for students who sustainability, and peace are integral to achieving the Key do not enter schooling with the skills to undertake Level 1 Learning Area. The learning occurs using five Key Processes tasks, six levels of increasing sophistication and complexity of investigating, creating, participating, communicating and achieved across the first 10 years of schooling and a level reflecting. The Key Concepts taught in the syllabus derive known as ‘Beyond Level 6’ in which all learning outcomes from a combination of the four Key Values and five Key are discretionary. Typically students will demonstrate Level Processes. Each of the four Key Learning Area Outcome 2 outcomes by the end of Year 3, Level 4 by the end of year Strands consists of five Key Concepts, but they differ for each 7 and Level 6 by the end of Year 10 (Queensland School Strand. The Key Concepts for each of the Key Learning Area Curriculum Council 2000:42). Outcome Strands in the SOSE syllabus are shown in Table 2.

Figure 1 Schematic representation of the Queensland Education Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) syllabus.

Strand: Strand: Time Continuity and Change Place and Space Key Concepts: Key Concepts: • Evidence over time • Human-environment relationships • Change and continuities • Processes and environments • People and contributions • Stewardship • Causes and effects • Spatial patterns • Heritage • Significance of place

Strand: Strand: Culture and Identity Systems, Resources and Power Key Concepts: Key Concepts: • Cultural diversity • Interactions between ecological • Cultural perceptions and other systems • Belonging • Economy and business • Cultural change • Participation and decision making • Construction of identities • Citizenship and government • Access to power

Table 2 Learning Area Outcome Strands and associated Key Concepts in the SOSE syllabus (Queensland School Curriculum Council 2000:35-41).

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Hearts and minds: Public archaeology and the Queensland school curriculum

Different Core Content is provided for each Key Concept sources over time, sequences and timelines about specific within each Strand resulting in 120 different Core Contents Australian changes and continuities, contributions of people across the six main Levels of the syllabus. Examples of in Australia’s past, causes and effects of specific historical Core Content are provided in Table 3. Bracketed items events and perspectives of past and present Australians from shown in Table 3 contain suggestions from the Queensland diverse cultural backgrounds. The number of Key Concepts School Curriculum Council (2000) on the subject matter that can be directly addressed by Australian archaeology that could be used to illustrate each Core Content. No examples for each Key Level within each Key Strand of the archaeological examples are supplied in any of the 120 Core syllabus are shown in Table 4. Contents. Anecdotally, some Queensland teachers do Based on this analysis of the existing situation it appears provide students with archaeological input in the SOSE that for archaeologists to best fit their public outreach syllabus but it mostly concerns Ancient Egypt or Rome, agenda into the Queensland school curriculum they should which is consistent with anecdotal evidence from other target their involvement in the SOSE syllabus to Levels 2 to states (e.g. Colley 2000). However, there are many 5 (i.e. middle Primary to lower Secondary) and concentrate opportunities for involvement in such a wide-ranging on the Time, Continuity and Change and Culture and syllabus by Australian archaeologists and archaeological Identity Strands. These levels and their associated Key examples could be used to illustrate virtually all 120 Core Concepts were targeted through two archaeological projects Contents. Even if we limit ourselves to those areas where conducted in 2005 with involvement from the University of archaeology is unequivocally applicable to the stated Queensland. learning goal, we are left with 47 Core Contents (or more than one-third of the syllabus) that can be directly addressed Toowong Cemetery case study through Australian archaeological examples and Toowong Cemetery is located 4.5 km west of the experiences. For instance, the Core Contents of all five Key Brisbane CBD and is the largest cemetery in Queensland, Concepts within Level 3 of the Time, Continuity & Change with well over 100,000 burials on more than 100 acres of Strand can readily accommodate archaeological input. land. It has been in continuous operation from before its These five Core Contents are: evidence from diverse official opening in 1875 up to the present day. The first

Strand: Strand: Time, Continuity and Change Place and Space Concept: Concept: Evidence over time Stewardship Level: 2 Level: 3 Core Content: Core Content: Students know about evidence from events, artefacts, stories Students know about field studies and symbols from familiar and different times and settings (use of instruments, data collection, (birthday, Australian flag, Olympic Games, religious sources of information) celebrations, fables and fairytales)

Strand: Strand: Culture and Identity System, Resources and Power Concept: Concept: Construction of identities Interaction between ecological and other systems Level: 4 Level: 3 Core Content: Core Content: Students know about connections between personal identities Students know about interactions between people and natural and material and non-material aspects of different groups cycles including the water cycle (fishing and (fashion, music, art, symbols, the water cycle, livestock grazing and the food chain, attitudes, activities, values) manufacturing and the nitrogen cycle)

Table 3 Examples of Core Content within the Key Concepts of different Strands in the SOSE syllabus (Queensland School Curriculum Council 2000:35-41).

Strands Levels Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Total/30

Time, Continuity & Change 1 2 5 5 4 3 20 Place & Space 1 3 3 2 1 0 10 Culture & Identity 0 3 4 3 4 1 15 System, Resources & Power 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 Total/20 2 9 13 10 9 4

Table 4 Number of Key Concepts that can be directly addressed by Australian archaeological examples for each Level and each Strand of the SOSE syllabus (maximum cell value=5).

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Stephen Nichols, Jonathan Prangnell and Michael Haslam person buried in the cemetery, in January 1871, was then The Toowong Cemetery project was designed from the Governor of Queensland Sir Samuel Blackall, and many outset to engage school students using Queensland’s SOSE notable Queenslanders have since been interred there, syllabus. In addition to locating the dam, the children were including Australia’s shortest-term Prime Minister, Francis divided into groups of 6–7 and taken on a guided tour of the Forde. The cemetery was designed as a nineteenth century cemetery to the graves of Elizabeth Dale’s brother and Victorian mortuary park following the closure of the North niece, as well as those of Elizabeth’s husband and Elizabeth Brisbane (Paddington) cemeteries, and its spatial layout and herself. The life and death of each family member was monumental architecture reflect the changing social and discussed, and the children identified the funerary religious trends present in Brisbane over the past 130 years architecture and transcribed the headstone inscriptions (Fowles 1924; Friends of Toowong Cemetery 1997). present. In conjunction with the dam survey these extended The Toowong Cemetery project was initiated in 2005 activities allowed for discussion of changes through time following discussions between Hilda Maclean of the Friends and the social information encoded in the landscape – of Toowong Cemetery and two of the authors (JP and MH). important aspects of both the SOSE syllabus and The discussions stemmed from the involvement of the archaeological enquiry. Each student was supplied with a Friends of Toowong Cemetery in National Archaeology workbook containing a map, pictures of funerary Week (NAW) 2004, when guided tours of the cemetery were architecture, a reproduction of an oil painting of the dam, given to the public. At that time, it was recognised that the photographs of headstones, and writing space, to assist in cemetery held great potential for public archaeology covering each of the different syllabus aims. At the end of projects, and the focus was narrowed to the suggested the project, selected students reported back to their inclusion in NAW 2005 of a survey by primary school classmates on the results obtained and information they had students of an area of the cemetery. An ideal site for the learned. The result was a learner-centred approach that used project was the former cemetery dam, which was drained in all five processes of the SOSE syllabus (investigating, 1905 following the drowning death of Elizabeth Dale in creating, participating, communicating and reflecting) and January of that year. The dam had since been largely filled addressed five Key Concepts within two Strands (Table 5). in and its location was no longer discernible. In May 2005 a The activity was run in the morning over a period of 2.5 group of approximately 50 children, from Years 3 and 4 of hours, which ensured the children were not tired out (the Toowong State School, were supervised by archaeologists cemetery tours involved walking across sometimes steep from the University of Queensland in a project which terrain) and their enthusiasm levels and concentration were involved using pre-1905 maps and grave plot records to maintained. Positive feedback was received from the triangulate the position of the dam wall (Figure 2). The 100th teachers accompanying the students, the archaeologists anniversary of Elizabeth’s death and the 130th anniversary involved, and the students themselves, as well as the local of the cemetery itself gave added impetus to the project. government councillor who came by to observe the

Figure 2 Students and teachers from Toowong State School surveying in the Toowong Cemetery (Photograph: Catherine Westcott).

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Hearts and minds: Public archaeology and the Queensland school curriculum

Strand: Time, Continuity and Change Concept Application

Evidence over time The students learnt about the life and death of Elizabeth Dale and her immediate family members. (Level 2) They examined the architecture and artefacts associated with the deaths of different people including Elizabeth’s brother whose impressive funerary monument was raised by his fellow gaol warder workmates. Evidence over time The students gained knowledge of the customs and material culture of late nineteenth and early (Level 3) twentieth century people, as well as of past attitudes to death, religion and the operation of Queensland law in the years following Federation (through discussion of the inquest into Elizabeth’s death). The students discussed the documentary evidence for Elizabeth’s death, which was drawn heavily from newspaper accounts of judicial proceedings and police enquiries, as well as gaining an insight into the legal processes following Elizabeth’s death. Heritage The students physically interacted with the built environment of the cemetery, and used >100 year- (Level 3) old maps to observe the changes to the cemetery environment over time, including the loss of many nineteenth century headstones bulldozed in the 1970s, and the obscuration of the dam location through infilling activities.

Strand: Culture and Identity Concept Application

Cultural diversity The students observed the grouping of burials in the cemetery according to religious denomination (Level 3) and other group memberships, for example paupers and soldiers. The cultural symbolism displayed on the headstones and in the inscriptions is very evident in Toowong Cemetery. Construction of identities The Victorian cemetery is highly inscribed with symbols. Students gained insight into the meaning (Level 2) of some of these symbols and the way symbols and the physical layout of the cemetery reflect the identities of the different groups buried within it.

Table 5 Key Concepts addressed by the Toowong Cemetery case study. exercise. The students were able to relate their previous sawmill operated until 1892, by which time the virtual experiences with the deaths of family members to the exhaustion of the timber resource had rendered the venture stories of the people buried in the cemetery, and were unviable. During its heyday the mill employed up to 150 particularly interested in the graves of children that they men who, with their families, made up a thriving settlement came across during the survey work. They were also very on the shores of Lake Cootharaba. In addition to the mill keen to speculate on the possible accident/murder/suicide complex itself, the settlement included shops, workers aspects of Elizabeth Dale’s death. The students applied houses, a school, a hotel, a tramway system for transporting critical reasoning and problem-solving skills in locating and timber and a cemetery in which 43 burials are recorded interpreting the site of the dam, while making use of the (Brown 2000:154-167). benefits of an archaeological approach to the investigation In 2003, local community concerns about the long-term of sociocultural phenomena. management and preservation of the site saw its nomination It is clear that the cemetery provided a ready-made to the Queensland Heritage Register. At that time the Mill ‘hands on’ environment for the integration of many Key Point Archaeological Project (MPAP) was established to Concepts within the Queensland SOSE syllabus, while also provide a broad-scale archaeological survey of the site. presenting an opportunity for articulating with other aspects MPAP was originally established as a collaborative of the school curriculum, including numeracy and literacy. undertaking between the University of Queensland, Cemeteries are ubiquitous components of the social Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the Environmental landscape throughout Australia (and worldwide) and Protection Agency and the Noosa Shire Council (Ulm therefore offer a consistent resource for teaching 2004). To date, three archaeological field seasons have been archaeology in schools. Future activities associated with conducted with surveys undertaken in February 2004 and National Archaeology Week in Queensland are planned to February 2005 and excavations in July 2005. continue utilising this resource. During the planning for the February 2005 field season a test program designed to integrate the archaeological Mill Point Archaeological Project case study experience within the SOSE syllabus was developed. Mill Point is an historical archaeological site located on Initially, all schools from the local education district were the shores of Lake Cootharaba in the Cooloola Section of offered the opportunity to participate in the program. Five Great Sandy National Park, within Queensland’s popular schools responded positively to the invitation and several Sunshine Coast region. European settlement of this area others registered their interest for future participation. The began in the mid-1800s and was primarily driven by the rich enthusiastic response from local schools confirms that timber resources that once dominated the Sunshine Coast many teachers are highly receptive to the idea of hinterland. Construction of a sawmill at Mill Point began in incorporating Australian archaeology into their teaching 1869 and was funded by a partnership of businessmen who plans. In order to gauge the feasibility of including an had made their fortunes on the Australian goldfields. The ongoing school’s program within an existing larger

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Strand: Time, Continuity and Change Concept Application

Evidence over time Students interacted with archival photographs, newspaper reports and artefacts to construct (Level 4) understandings of colonial life at Mill Point and discussed the different types of information they had gained from these different sources of evidence. Change and continuities Students learned about early European settlement in their local area, the impact of settlement on (Level 4) Indigenous people and were required to reflect on how they thought the life of a nineteenth century school pupil living at Mill Point would have been similar or different from their own lives today. Causes and effects Students gained knowledge of the historical processes and events that gave rise to the Mill Point (Level 4) settlement, including the Gympie gold-rush, and considered the role of the timber workers and their families at the Mill Point settlement who have left few written accounts of their lives. The demise of the sawmill and the exhaustion of the timber resource were also considered. People and contributions Through interaction with the physical remains of the sawmill and the material culture of those who (Level 4) lived and worked at Mill Point the students were able to construct an understanding of the early timber industry and its role in European settlement of the Sunshine Coast region. Heritage The students visited a heritage listed site within a National Park and were required to interpret (Level 4) various archaeological features present in the landscape. They observed first-hand the damage done to the site by bottle collectors and looters and considered arguments for why the site should be protected, as well as issues associated with the ongoing management of the site including tourism and research potentials.

Table 6 Key Concepts addressed by the Mill Point Archaeological Project case study.

Figure 3 Students from Gympie West State School survey a grid square for surface artefacts at Mill Point (Photograph: Nicole Bordes).

archaeological project, a Year 6 class from Gympie West from the University of Queensland. Assisted by archival State School was selected to take part in the pilot program. photographs and newspaper reports the students were The 21 students spent the entire school day on site required to interpret various archaeological features and undertaking a range of archaeological activities. Following answer some (mostly reflective) questions in their a general induction and orientation, which included the workbooks. At the end of this exercise each group reported distribution of workbooks, the children split into smaller back to the others about the results of their interpretations groups and toured the site accompanied by archaeologists and investigations. Further activities included measuring

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Hearts and minds: Public archaeology and the Queensland school curriculum and recording artefacts, such as bricks, using the MPAP the field can be used to create opportunities for critical artefact recording key, and the day culminated with a reflection amongst participants, currently an important ‘gumshoe’ survey in which the students flagged artefacts issue in the theory and philosophy of archaeological visible across the surface of a 25m x 25m grid square pedagogy (Fagan 2000; Hamilakis 2004). The Queensland (Figure 3). The activity program specifically addressed all School Curriculum Council (2000:8) specifically advocates five Key Concepts within Level 4 of the Time, Continuity the learner-centred approach for teaching the SOSE and Change Strand of the SOSE syllabus (Table 6). syllabus and teachers appear to welcome the opportunity for The teachers accompanying the children provided field-based archaeological experiences. Australian extremely positive feedback regarding the structure of the archaeology is therefore well positioned for a major public program and its relevance to their teaching plans, while the archaeological engagement with the primary and secondary archaeologists who participated all agreed that the pilot- school system in Queensland. program provided a significant public outreach opportunity Instances of longer-term engagement with school for Australian archaeology. As for the children themselves, curricula can be found in both North America and Europe. their obvious enthusiasm and enjoyment is perhaps best For example, in the United States Jeppson and Brauer summed up by the comments of 10 year-old Clair: (2003) report on an archaeological program that has been I had the best time and loved every bit of it! operating as part of the Social Studies curriculum in the Baltimore County Public Schools district for 20 years; The Mill Point Archaeological Project provides many while in Spain, Bardavio et al. (2004) describe the rescue of opportunities for engaging the school curriculum in a public a Neolithic site in Catalonia which took place over several outreach context and future field seasons will further years utilising curriculum-orientated participation of local develop the 2005 pilot program aimed specifically at the secondary school students. These international examples SOSE syllabus for the middle primary to lower secondary demonstrate that the long-term public outreach benefits of years. engaging school curricula extend well beyond the immediate experiences of students to incorporate the wide Discussion variety of individuals and groups that constitute a school The ease with which archaeological concepts, methods ‘community’, including teachers, parents, grandparents, and reconstructions can be incorporated into the SOSE bureaucrats, educationalists, politicians and businesses. In syllabus contrasts strongly with the lack of consideration particular, the positive impact on attitudes to heritage and currently given to Australian archaeology within the ‘stewardship’ are highlighted. Queensland school system. Of particular relevance for There is undoubtedly much scope for the greater archaeologists is that two projects of widely differing inclusion of Australian archaeology and for the involvement budgets, scale and duration were each able to successfully of Australian archaeologists in our schools. Field-based involve school students not only in practical, field-based programs that specifically support a range of curriculum archaeological activities, but also in providing concrete outcomes, and which appeal to widespread popular interest examples of past cultural, social and environmental in the process of archaeology, are a powerful educational interaction directly relevant to the established SOSE tool for teachers. At the same time, such programs provide syllabus as taught in Queensland schools. The Toowong significant public outreach benefits for the archaeological Cemetery project was specifically designed as a one-off, profession and present opportunities for wider community half-day activity as part of both National Archaeology Week engagement. The task now is to initiate an ongoing and the 130th anniversary of the cemetery itself. The Mill professional dialogue with teachers and educationalists and Point project, on the other hand, is a long-term multi- to develop our capabilities in delivering high quality disciplinary endeavour with involvement from government curriculum focussed educational experiences. We should agencies and other stakeholder groups, and which aim to establish formalised partnerships within the contributes to a number of academic projects from education sector and work towards the implementation of a undergraduate to PhD level at the University of Queensland. fully resourced schools initiative. The size and logistical complexity of a particular project is not, therefore, a primary factor in determining the success Conclusion of any school engagement strategy. As has been observed by Lilley (2005), Nicholas (2001) The active learner-centred approach adopted in the case and others, popular misconceptions and ‘colonial’ studies reported here provides a number of benefits that stereotypes continue to pervade broader social could not be achieved through more traditional lecture- constructions of Australian archaeology and Australia’s based, instrumentalist public education methods. The field archaeological past, despite an increase in the public environment combined with supervised hands-on activities educational efforts of archaeologists. The nature and captures the excitement of discovery and adventure that is character of these constructions have significant often associated with popular interest in archaeology (see implications for the practice, ethics and influence of Balme and Wilson 2004; Colley 2005), while at the same professional archaeology in contemporary Australia. It is time challenging stereotypes and misconceptions about the now time to consider how we approach public outreach in archaeological past. Not only does such an approach raise Australian archaeology and maximise the return on our awareness of Australian archaeology, but also directly efforts. In this paper, we have identified the school promotes an understanding and appreciation of ethical educational system as a key social context for Australian archaeological practice and its relevance to Australian archaeologists and presented an interpretive public outreach society. It is important to note that these benefits extend not strategy for incorporating Australian archaeology into only to students but also to the teachers accompanying the Queensland school curriculum. The successful them. Additionally, a practical learner-centred approach in implementation of this strategy with respect to two separate

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Stephen Nichols, Jonathan Prangnell and Michael Haslam projects shows the exciting possibilities that can emerge Friends of Toowong Cemetery 1997 Toowong Cemetery Resource when the expanded vision of a socially active and politically Manual: A Guide for Exploring the Cemetery. Brisbane: engaged public archaeology is adopted. Friends of Toowong Cemetery. Hall, J., S. O’Connor, J. Prangnell and T. Smith 2005 Teaching Acknowledgements archaeological excavation at the University of Queensland: Eight years inside TARDIS. Australian Archaeology 61:48- Ian Lilley, Sarah Colley and Sean Ulm read this paper 55. and all provided very useful comments. We would like to Hamilakis, Y. 2004 Archaeology and the politics of pedagogy. thank Hilda Maclean, President of the Friends of Toowong World Archaeology 36(2):287-309. Cemetery, Ivan Chillman, Sexton, Toowong Cemetery, Deb Hodder, I. 1991 Interpretive archaeology and its role. American Nash, Principal of Toowong State School and Donna Antiquity 56(1):7-18. Hourigan, Gympie West State School for the involvement of Hodder, I. 1995 Theory and Practice in Archaeology. London: their organisations. Thanks also to the archaeologists from Routledge. the University of Queensland and the Environmental Jeppson, P. and G. Brauer 2003 Hey, did you hear about the teacher Protection Agency who supervised in the field: Sean Ulm, who took a class out to dig a site?: Some common Catherine Westcott, Karen Murphy, Tam Smith, Alison misconceptions about archaeology in schools. In L. Derry Crowther, Adrian Murphy, Anthony McKeough, Elissa and M. Malloy (eds), Archaeologists and Local Communities: Partners in Exploring the Past, pp.77-96. McKay and Delyna Baxter. 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